Lutron executive participates in White House roundtable on federal energy mandates

Andy Wakefield, director of government solutions for Lutron Electronics, Coopersburg, Pa., joined White House, agency and industry leaders in the roundtable discussion focused on President Barack Obama's Executive Order 13514, which mandates that the federal government lead the industry in energy efficiency advancements. The roundtable was hosted by Federal News Radio anchor Francis Rose and aired live on Federal News Radio 1500 AM on Aug. 16. As an industry representative, Wakefield shared how knowledge of specific energy retrofits can open additional opportunities for improvements in energy efficiency. “Lighting consumes about 30 percent of a building's energy,” said Wakefield. “Advanced lighting control can save approximately 60 percent of that energy, but if you reduce energy used for lighting by three watts, you are also cutting HVAC energy use by one watt. This means when government facilities are updating or retrofitting their lighting control systems, they can also potentially resize to a smaller HVAC system for even greater energy savings.” Wakefield joined five federal and industry leaders for the event: Thomas Day, chief sustainability officer, United States Postal Service; David Fricke, CEO, ECO Electric, the electrical service division of Go Contractors, Inc.; Craig Hooks, assistant administrator, Office of Administration & Resources, Environmental Protection Agency; and Jonathan Powers, federal environmental executive for the Council on Environmental Quality in the White House.